This year the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area joins 19 community foundations producing Vital Signs reports.

This is the tenth year that the Foundation has published Vital Signs, a report on our community’s quality of life – a community check-up.

This year Vital Signs takes a long look at the decade between our first report in 2009 and this year’s report, looking for trends. We have selected a few indicators, compared the data published in 2009 with similar data now available from Census 2016 and other sources. In addition, we have introduced a couple of current critical topics that were not “on the radar” a decade ago.

Followers of the Vital Signs reports from previous years will be familiar with the thematic approach started about five years ago. This year we have included an extended review of poverty in the Kingston area.

Not surprisingly, the “sense of community belonging” is strong in Kingston, with a demonstrated increase over the previous decade. But, our charitable giving is barely keeping up with inflation. Charities are relying on fewer donors giving more.

The Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have sparked some positive changes for the Indigenous members of our community. The City of Kingston has been effective in providing leadership, but there is an enormous amount of work to do to raise the incomes, reduce the unemployment rate, and lift the Indigenous individuals and families above the poverty level. We started this conversation with the Indigenous community only in 2015.

In the decade 2005 to 2015 there was no significant reduction of poverty in the Kingston area; indeed the rate rose slightly. In 2010 the City of Kingston, with the United Way, undertook a Poverty Reduction Initiative to address poverty; nevertheless, lone parents, Indigenous residents, visible minorities, and recent immigrants have rates of poverty in excess of the overall 13 per cent, some approaching a rate of 25 per cent. Poverty reduction requires sustained investment over generations by all levels of government.

Looking at the advances made over a decade, the rate of youth unemployment improved slightly over the decade. This is part of the story of the City of Kingston’s Youth Employment Strategy (2016). The population is slowly becoming more diverse; this is part of the story behind the City of Kingston’s A Workforce and In-migration Strategy released in 2017.

We are using active transportation (walking, cycling, etc.) more and are using public transit at a record rate, all good for the climate and our health.

Our state of physical and mental health is not improving; and, they cannot be separated.

The increase in the rates of obesity and overweight for adults in Kingston and area are alarming. In 2015-16, the combined rate for both obesity and overweight is 60 per cent. Over a decade obesity in the adult population has increased from 20 per cent to 30 per cent in 2015-16, higher than the Ontario rate.

Over the decade ending 2015-16, the rates of self-reported “fair” or “poor” mental health increased from less than 6 per cent to over 8 per cent. For Addiction and Mental Health Services – KFL&A, addiction and mental health deficits translated into 16,068 calls to their crisis line, 7,690 individuals accessing services, and 322 receiving housing support.

And, we want to attend to the opioid crisis: The death rate from overdose in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) exceeds the Ontario rate.

We should reflect on the findings of Vital Signs 2018 decade-in-review. There have been some improvements, the City of Kingston has been pro-active in both identifying needs and spurring responses, Indigenous residents and issues are gaining visibility, and the agencies are forming strategies and providing services for those most in need. There is still work to be done, but the evidence shows that it is possible to advance solutions that work with sustained investment. The Community Foundation for Kingston & Area will be there forever to make a difference.

See how by keeping up-to-date by signing up for Waves, the Foundation’s electronic newsletter at: https://www.cfka.org/e-newsletter-waves/

Vital Signs is a community check-up conducted by community foundations across Canada that measures the vitality of our communities and identifies significant trends in a range of areas critical to quality of life. Vital Signs is coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of Canada.